Saying goodbye to the motorhome this morning as it gets towed off the property this morning. Kai was pretty enthralled with the fancy tow truck.

Well, we said goodbye to the motorhome (which I refer to as ‘the trailer’) this morning. After almost exactly three years on the property, the trailer (that I purchased from a young snowboarding couple in Squamish in May 2010) to live in when I first moved to the farm got taken away.

I actually moved out of the trailer a year ago when Chris K. and I moved into the suite in the farm house on the property, but until recently, our long-time friend Melody was using it as her little get-away cabin for weekend visits. However, one of our summer projects this year is the dismantling of the pole-barn and, since the motorhome was parked, immobile, right in front of it, it was time to figure out a game plan to find it another home.

I was originally hoping to sell it, at a reduced price from what I paid for it, to recoup some funds, but I got no responses to a craigslist ad for it. After that I looked into some ‘cash-for-clunkers’ businesses (businesses that pay you for your old vehicles and recycle them for you), but apparently there are new laws that require payment to recycle old motorhomes and I definitely didn’t want to lose money on it.

It turned out to be a good thing because the trailer is still in very decent shape and the interior is like a great blank canvas with tons of potential for someone else who could use it in a stationary manner, so, I followed the advice of one of the cash-for-clunkers guys and posted it free on craigslist as long as the person taking it was willing to pay for towing. Within ten minutes of the ad going up, I got about 2 dozen emails from very interested people, including one from a friend who had another friend who wanted it as a stationary spot to rest in on the land she keeps her horses. Perfect!

And so that’s where my dear ol’ trailer is headed off to this morning. I’m really glad it’ll be put to use rather than be prematurely recycled. Bye, bye trailer!

And now, a little trip down trailer memory lane…

Me, on cleaning duty, after taking possession of the trailer. Making it move-in ready!

I enlisted the help of all of my very supportive family members to help clean it and work on some interior construction and decorating projects. Here’s my dad figuring out how to install a larger table than the small circle table it came with. I also enlisted the help of many friends too…

Including mechanic-extraordinaire and farm Opa, Murray, to help get the non-running motor running long enough to move it into it’s permanent (while on the farm) resting place.

It soon turned into a beautiful and cozy space that looked like this…

Kept me sort of warm through winters like this…

Sat next to a pretty deck (thanks again to my construction-handy parents) hang-out space that looked like this and provided space for my cedar-shed-composting-toilet outhouse…

Gave myself and my furry babies, Lola and Fergus, many cozy, restful sleeps…

And, although I can’t find any photographic evidence, hosted many an evening of wine and food and board games with many, many dear friends around this back seating area.

Really good memories <3

I guess it’s not that surprising. Almost everyone uses social media in some form or another these days. But I’ve gotta say, when Julie (the girl who’s never opened a Facebook account), twisted my arm into committing to Instagram (because by then I was getting tired of having too many personal sites to keep updated on), I was pretty doubtful that I’d a) use it much, or b) discover it to be the best tool I’ve found for connecting with other farmers.

Yep. Instagram. Very surprisingly, it has painlessly and quickly become my main go-to for sharing farm photos and information, viewing photos and reading info from other farmers, receiving encouragement from other farmers, and very much feeling part of a community of new/ young farmers/ homesteaders/ permaculturalists. Blog? Facebook? Twitter? Oh ya, I guess I’ll try to keep those up, but Instagram is where I like to spend most of my online time.

It is so, so inspiring and empowering to see glimpses of the day-to-day lives of other people who are removing themselves from the typical 9-5 lifestyle to pursue personal food-growing, arts-and-craft-making, community-building, and living off the land. A lot of these people are young – young adults, young families, and young to the concept of homesteading. But from what I’ve been able to tell, they’re having a great time balancing the realities of life in North America (I’ve connected with some farmers from other parts of the world too, but most of my connections so far are with Canadians and Americans) with their desire to adopt a more close-to-the-earth lifestyle full of all the things we think of when we hear the words ‘simple pleasures’.

When I first signed up for Instagram, I never imagined finding myself inspired enough to write a blog post about the experience, but the sincere words of encouragement and sense of belonging to a unique and warm community that I get from the time I spend on Instagram is really (for real) fulfilling. There’s a good, solid group of new homesteaders sharing their lives through images and words there. I encourage others to check it out.

Here’s just a few of my fave farm-y Instagram connections so far:

• agraconteur
• zephyrriver
• amysfarm
• sunspeck
• zinniablossom
• shareyoursound
• farmercourtney
• farmgroupie
• farmerjay1
• wild_agrarian
• hives4humanity
• ok_jae
• jenorjenny
• weatherface
• soilseeker
• wonjoolley
• longestacres
• wildroseurbanhomestead
• vvictorygardens
• bakerhands
• startafarm
• designbynature
• norcon
• missmiainthegarden

And you can follow us at: farmforlife

** Instagram is an online photo sharing and social networking site. More info here for those of you who aren’t familiar with it. ** 

Chris making one of his goofy faces at the special Earth Day Farmers Market from two weeks ago.

Hi Everyone!

This Saturday marks the official start of market season for us and we’re excited! For the second year in a row, we’ll be at the Haney Farmers Market in Maple Ridge every Saturday between now and the end of October. We’ve also just been approved to sell at the White Rock Farmers Market! We’ll be there every Sunday in July and August.

This Saturday we’ll have the following edibles and seedlings at our booth at the Haney Farmers Market (Memorial Peace Park on 224th Ave from 9am – 2pm):

Edibles:

• radishes – we’ll have a fun variety of radishes freshly harvested – perfect for crisp radish salads.
• salad greens – we’ll have mixed lettuce greens, spicy greens, braising greens, and kale florets.
• nettle greens – be adventurous and try out some wild, super-nutritious stinging nettle greens.
• herbs – freshly cut mint, thyme, oregano, chives, and lovage will be available.

Seedlings (all grown from organic seeds):

• kale (Blue Curly & Red Russian)
• swiss chard (Pink Flamingo & Rainbow)
• collards (Champion)
• tomatoes (Yellow Pear, Nyagous, Alpha, Jaunne Flamme, and Sweetie)

We hope to see you there!